Are reviews of laser spine surgery clinics reliable?

A:

Quick Answer

Reviews of clinics are not the best measure of the average patient's medical experience and outcome, reports ProPublica. However, popular review sites such as Yelp offer insight into a clinic's normal business practices, such as the accuracy of its billing and how helpful and friendly the staff is.

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Patient outcomes have much more to do with the individual surgeon than with the clinic, claims ProPublica. The rate of complication for a particular procedure sometimes varies significantly between surgeons practicing at the same clinic. ProPublica's 2015 statistics on more than 17,000 doctors performing several common surgeries suggest that only 11 percent of surgeons are responsible for roughly one-quarter of the complications.